


Now and Forever

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 22:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13040445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: With Halloween just around the corner, Evie has the brilliant idea to dress herself and Mal as Sally and Jack Skellington, but Mal can't figure out why she keeps getting the weird looks when she announces the costume choice to her friends at Auradon Prep.





	Now and Forever

**Author's Note:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

“M, really?” Evie giggled.  
  
She held the jacket of a pinstripe suit out in front of her to display it for Mal, who simply kicked back on her pillow and shook her head.  
  
“I’ve never heard of Jack Skellington,” she insisted.  
  
“He’s the king of Halloween Town!”  
  
“I’ve never heard of that, either.”  
  
Now Evie shook her head with a laughing sigh, laying the jacket flat across her bed.  
  
“I guess that makes sense. Halloween Town is  _so_  far from Auradon. It’s practically on the other side of the world,” she said.  
  
“And you want me to go as King Skellington or whatever for Halloween?” Mal questioned.  
  
“Well for one, it’s not quite so formal in Halloween Town, they just call him Jack. But yes, since you couldn’t decide on a Halloween costume, I thought this would be a good choice for you.”  
  
Mal got up from her bed, crossing over to Evie’s to have a closer look at the suit jacket.  
  
“So what are you going as?” she asked, holding the handmade jacket for herself to marvel at Evie’s talent.  
  
“If you’ll go as Jack, I’ll go as Sally. She’s…like Jack’s royal councilor.”  
  
Mal lifted an eyebrow at the way Evie briefly stumbled over that description, but paid it no mind. Having no other Halloween plans, she really didn’t have much thinking over to do.  
  
“Okay. We’ll go as Jack and Sally,” she agreed.  
  
“Really??” Evie’s eyes sparkled.  
  
Mal caught sight of the glimmer and smiled.  
  
“Yeah. Sounds fun.”  
  
Evie lost herself for a second and clapped happily.  
  
“I was hoping you’d say that! I kind of,  _sort of_  already started sewing Sally’s dress,” she shyly admitted.  
  
Mal just laughed.  
  
“Of course you did.”

“You’re going as Jack and Sally?” Audrey all but blurted at lunch.  
  
It was just her and Mal at the table, with Evie hard at work sewing in the dorm and the boys having already scarfed down their lunch to take off for a quick Tourney practice.  
  
“Okay, why does everyone keep saying it like that?” Mal threw her hands up in the air.  
  
“Like what?” Audrey innocently batted her eyes as she ate a bite of her salad.  
  
“Like how you  _just_  said it.”  
  
Audrey shrugged, staring intently at her fork.  
  
“I just asked a question.”  
  
Mal narrowed her eyes, far from convinced, seeing as Audrey was the third person that day to respond to the girls’ Halloween choices as if Mal and Evie had just announced their plans to take over Auradon with an army of tardy white rabbits.  
  
“And how come I’m the only one who’s never heard of Halloween Town?” Mal went on.  
  
“Couldn’t tell you,” Audrey remained positively blasé.  
  
“Evie’s heard of it.”  
  
“Evie reads a lot.”  
  
“Well maybe I should read about Halloween Town and Jack too, yeah?”  
  
Audrey paused, looking up from her fork.  
  
“Mm, no,” she said. “Evie knows what she’s doing, all you have to do is show up and wear the costume. No need for homework.”  
  
Mal definitely knew that she was missing something, and she didn’t like it.  
  
“Who are Jack and Sally?” she asked the next day, taking a different approach as she caught Jane at her locker.  
  
“Jack and Sally?” Jane glanced at her as she fished books out from the locker. “Well, Jack is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, he leads Halloween in all its traditions and celebrations, makes sure everyone has a horrible time, horrible in a good way, and Sally—…wait, why?”  
  
“Nevermind why,” Mal quickly said.  
  
“Sure, but why?”  
  
“Can’t a girl just get to know a little more about good old Auradon?”  
  
“Halloween Town isn’t in Auradon.”  
  
Mal couldn’t believe this. What was it, some kind of conspiracy?   
  
“Evie and I are going to be Sally and Jack for Halloween, okay?!” she snapped.  
  
Jane’s innocent and enchanting eyes went wide.  
  
“ _Oh_.”  
  
“Aha! You see? Right there!” Mal pointed accusingly at her. “Why is everyone acting weird when I say that??”  
  
Jane closed her locker door and her eyes darted around all over, as if she were searching the air itself for an explanation.  
  
“They’re probably just… _surprised_  to hear you two going as king and—”  
  
“King and what?”  
  
Jane was doing a wonderful impression of a frightened woodland creature.  
  
“King and…court official!” she finished with a nerve-riddled smile. “You know, since you guys are from The Isle, no one would’ve thought they’d see you willingly dressing up as members of the court.”  
  
Mal believed that part of Jane’s explanation, at least.  
  
“Okay, but that doesn’t 100% explain the funny looks I’ve gotten from everyone I’ve told,” she went on. “What do I not know about these two?”  
  
Jane shrugged, her overly bright smile still nervous.  
  
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Mal. I wouldn’t let it bother you.”  
  
Mal let it bother her.  
  
Halloween was fast approaching, and Evie had their costumes completely finished. She had Mal try on Jack Skellington’s suit, just to make sure everything fit perfectly. Mal stood in front of the floor length mirror while Evie slipped the jacket on her, buttoning the jacket herself while Evie added the huge bat bow tie.  
  
“I have to admit, I like this king’s sense of style,” Mal said as she eyed herself in the mirror. “E, what do you think Halloween in Auradon is like?”  
  
Evie crouched down to straighten out the cuffs of the pinstripe pants.  
  
“More treat and less trick. The exact opposite of The Isle.” she said confidently. “Are you excited?”  
  
Mal hesitated.  
  
“I guess.”  
  
Evie stood back up with a frown.  
  
“You guess? M, what’s wrong?”  
  
It was a split-second decision to not say anything about the funny reactions from the Auradon Prep populace to Evie.  
  
“I’ll just believe the more treat and less trick part when I see it. Life on The Isle, you know. Still there in the back of my mind,” she smoothly lied. “So where’s your dress? You haven’t showed me yet.”  
  
“I almost want it to be a surprise,” Evie smiled shyly.  
  
“Come on, you’re seeing me right now in my costume.”  
  
“I  _made_  your costume. Which you look incredible in, by the way.”  
  
“You can’t change the subject,” Mal held on to her insistence. “I want to see the dress.”  
  
Evie looked like she was thinking it over as she continued to study Mal.  
  
“Well…the costume isn’t complete without the makeup, so I suppose just the dress would be okay…close your eyes while I take it out of the closet.”  
  
Mal sighed, but did so, closing her eyes and only opening them when she heard the bathroom door shutting so Evie could change inside. She went over to the door while she waited, leaning in close to it so Evie could hear her.  
  
“E?”  
  
“Yeah?” Evie called back.  
  
“What made you decide on these costumes?” Mal asked.  
  
“They’re quintessential Halloween, Mal,” Evie laughed. “And the VKs have to do Halloween right.”  
  
The door opened, and Evie stepped out in a cute patchwork dress, with pieces of yellow, pink with spirals, pink with black stripes, and spotted blue. She had it purposely sewn at the hem and shoulders for a ragged, torn look, and she gave a small twirl for Mal’s benefit. Such a change from Evie’s usually deep blue was…well, Mal really couldn’t think of any other word besides “stunning”.  
  
“That’s  _great_ ,” she said, taking Evie by the hands to slowly twirl her again and get another look.  
  
“You like it?”  
  
“Yeah, E.”  
  
Evie smiled happily.  
  
“Just wait until you see the whole costume, makeup and everything,” she said brightly.  
  
She absentmindedly reached out to run her fingers through Mal’s hair so it fell perfectly against her shoulders, wonderfully contrasting the black and white of her suit.  
  
“We’ll have fun, M. We’ll go into the city to trick-or-treat, all our friends will be there, the sun will set and make everything all creepy and mysterious…”  
  
“So just like home, huh?” Mal chided.  
  
Evie shook her head, keeping her lighthearted mood.  
  
“Nothing like home and a hundred times better.”  
  
Okay, so Evie’s words and Evie’s smile had an effect on Mal just like they always did, upgrading her “I guess” on the subject of Halloween excitement to a solid “Yeah”, but still. The looks on Audrey’s, Jane’s, Doug’s, Ben’s, and Lonnie’s faces when Mal told of Evie’s costume plans were things she just couldn’t shake.  
  
Come Halloween itself, after days of everyone eyeing her and Evie curiously wherever they went, Mal couldn’t take it anymore.  
  
As the time for trick-or-treating fast approached, Mal had been somewhat “banished” to the boys’ room while Evie worked on the finishing touches to her secretive costume. Carlos and Jay had headed down to the Tourney field to partake in a little holiday facepainting courtesy of the art club, leaving Mal alone in their room when Evie texted to say she was starting to change into her costume. Mal did the same, dressed and ready soon enough by just putting on the suit and tying the big bow tie, leaving her with entirely too much time to think and rethink about the expressions, the wide eyes, the stammering, round after round of an incredulously blurted “Jack and Sally??”  
  
So she got out her phone. Did what she should’ve done right at the start. Searched up “Jack Skellington” and waited.  
  
Started down the hallway minutes later and all but kicked the door of her dorm open to storm into the room. Mouth open just ready to start in on a tirade when the sight of Evie stopped her short. She sat at the desk with her round vanity mirror in front of her, just finishing her makeup. Dark red lipstick matching dark red nails, and costume makeup shades lighter than her usual blue applied flawlessly to her face, arms and legs. She’d hand-drawn little sewing stitches all over, which Mal now recognized right away as part of Sally’s ragdoll look. Evie turned around in her chair when Mal burst in, caught off guard by her sudden entrance.  
  
“…Mal? What’s wrong?” she questioned, more worried about Mal than she was about her big costume reveal being spoiled.  
  
It took Mal a second or two to get her senses back, but she did shake herself out of it, putting Evie’s appearance aside long enough to get back to the reason she’d so crudely rushed in in the first place.  
  
“Sally is Jack Skellington’s  _girlfriend!!”_ she practically yelled.  
  
Evie’s eyes, dusted with shadow a little darker blue than that on her skin, widened with surprise.  
  
“How did you—?”  
  
“I looked it up,” Mal waved her phone in front of her for emphasis. “Every single person I told about our Halloween costumes acted so weird about it and no one would tell me why, so I looked up Jack, and Sally, and Halloween Town myself. She’s not his ‘councilor’, E! Sally was secretly in love with Jack and—”  
  
“And Jack was completely oblivious,” Evie finished quietly, casting her eyes down at the floor. “…I told you I thought it would be a good choice for you, M.”  
  
“What the heck does that—”  
  
Oh.  
  
_Oh._

A very long and sudden silence.  
  
And Now it was Mal’s turn to watch Evie with widened eyes.  
  
“…Wait. So…you…?”  
  
“Yes,” Evie again spoke quietly.  
  
“And I…”  
  
“Had no idea,” Evie lifted her head and looked over at Mal, smiling sadly. “The perfect Jack Skellington.”  
  
Mal found her way to her bed, dropping down heavily onto the foot of it.  
  
“…How could I have any idea? You never said anything, E.”  
  
Evie shook her head.  
  
“You’re my best friend. I couldn’t ruin that by telling you I loved you.”  
  
Mal felt those words like a punch in the chest.  
  
“Evie,  _nothing_  could  _ever_  ruin us!” she firmly said, almost personally offended that the girl had thought that.  
  
Evie’s single laugh was short and disbelieving.  
  
“Not even me falling in love with you?” she questioned skeptically.  
  
“Especially not that!”  
  
Evie shrugged, going back to avoiding Mal’s eyes.  
  
“I don’t see how it couldn’t.”  
  
“Because…” Mal wracked her brain at a hundred miles an hour to find the right words. “…Evie, because there’s no one else in the world who means what you do to me. You have  _always_  been there when I needed you most, even when I had no clue that I needed you at all. From The Isle to Auradon, E, I trust you with anything and everything…nothing will ever ruin us because I  _need_  us.”  
  
Mal had wracked her brain at a hundred miles an hour to find the right words, all right. She just never imagined these kinds of words were hidden there.  
  
“I need you always seeing the best in me, Evie. Especially here in Auradon where even though I’m trying to be good, I sometimes still see the worst in myself. And I need the little things too, like how you fix my hair, or walk me to class, or sing me to sleep. You’re the one thing that’s constant in my life, everyday. More than school, more than Jay and Carlos, more than my daily urge to call off goodness long enough to put Chad’s head through a wall.”  
  
That brought a little laugh out of Evie.  
  
“I need your laugh,” Mal added with a laugh of her own. “And that smile that always seems to remind me of sunshine even back on The Isle where I barely knew sunshine. It’s like…you were always everything I was missing. And of course I’m never going to let anything change that, Evie, I lo—”  
  
_Whoa_. Three words  _definitely_ started to slip from Mal’s lips without her having any idea they were waiting for their chance to. And her heart had  _definitely_  just kicked into high gear. But she hadn’t caught herself fast enough, and now Evie, with a silent gasp on her lips, had lifted her head to stare incredulously at her, and expectantly too. Intentionally or not, the thought was hanging in the air now, and it was too late. Mal knew for a fact that Evie’s heart would break and be broken forever if she left that thought unfinished. But Mal, being herself, suddenly decided to do one better, a proud smile creeping across her stunned features as she slowly stood up from her bed.  
  
“ _My dearest friend, if you don’t mind…I’d like to join you by your side_ ,” she started to sing. “ _Where we can gaze into the stars_ …”  
  
There it was. The sunshiney smile brightening Evie’s face as she rose to her feet too and softly sang along with Mal.  
  
“ _And sit together…now and forever. For it is plain as anyone can see, we’re simply meant to be_ …”  
  
They found themselves laughing easily together, hand in hand. Evie pulled her hands free just long enough to straighten out Mal’s bow tie before letting their fingers twine within each other’s once more.  
  
“…I can be your Jack if you’ll be my Sally,” Mal said to her, surprising herself yet again for about the third time in as many minutes.  
  
Evie nodded fervently, fighting back what felt like tears and hugging Mal tighter than she’d ever hugged her in her entire life. If Evie’s smile shone like the sun, then her hug warmed like the sun, and Mal was so close to letting a blissful sigh escape.  
  
“Evie?”  
  
“Mal?”  
  
“…You were right. Auradon is definitely more treat than trick.”  
  
Evie only hugged her closer.  
  
“…Yeah, M. It is.”


End file.
